So up we climbed!
And sure enough, it was a great view!
Popocatépetl on the left, and it's sister volcano Iztaccihuatl on the right.
Also from the water tower, we had a view of the Cholula Pyramid.
Popocatépetl Volcano.
Popocatépetl is an active volcano, and it has been acting up recently. In fact, on March 6th it sent three plumes of smoke and ash into the sky. And just after the caravan group left yesterday, it sent another huge cloud up. I couldn't get a photo of it because the wind blew it our way. The dust was way up in the sky so it doesn't bother us, and just looked like a huge cloud. But it blocked out the sun at several points during the day.
We're going to be here for a few days, so we put out the patio mat and the awning and the chairs and made ourselves at home while we wait for Sherman's parts.
Sherman, at Trailer Park Las Americas.
We don't have any neighbors where we are parked.
View from under our awning.
Trailer Park Las Americas is a kind of a multi purpose property. There is a gated, guarded entrance, and maybe 5 or 6 houses, a couple of small apartment buildings, an event room, a swimming pool, and perhaps 25 RV sites in various areas of the property. Sherman was put where he is because it was easy for the tow truck and lots of space for a mechanic to do his job.
We don't have electricity here, but we don't need it. Sherman's solar and batteries work fine. But, we do have a sewer dump and some of the group left us enough water line that we can fill Sherman's fresh water tank. We're fine!
Oh, I forgot... we do have a neighbor...
Right beside us is this big cage!
And this fellow lives here!
He doesn't make any noise, and seems friendly enough but I wasn't about to stick my hand in the cage to try to pet him!
Sherman needs a major cleanup. After sitting in the dusty windy mechanic parking lot in Juchitan, the interior got a little dusty. And the outside is dirty too. I cleaned the windows yesterday and today he will get a sponge bath and vacuum.
We found a lavandaria (laundry) just down the road, so we brought the laundry there. Two bags, washed, dried, and folded for 90 pesos ($6.25 CAD, $5.00 USD). But because it was already Saturday afternoon it won't be ready for pickup until 5:00pm Monday.
Then, we went for a walk around the block just to see what's in the area. Stopped at a little shop where we bought some tomatoes and cheese, and we spotted a Ciel water jug on the floor. This reminded us that we need some drinking water, but it was going to be a job to carry it back to Sherman. We decided to wait and see if a water truck would come into the park.
We got back to the gate and asked the guard about water. As we were doing that, a water truck drove right by the entrance! Ruth yelled at him, and he stopped!
I ran to get our empty garrafon (water jug)!
Pouring the water into our jug.
In Mexico, there are several popular distributors of purified water. You have to leave a deposit on the jug, and the different brands are not interchangeable. We have a Ciel jug, and this truck only sold Santorini water. So in this case you can't exchange your empty jug for a full one. Instead, we simply pour one into the other right there on the sidewalk!
Perfect weather here. We are so glad to be out of the hot sticky Yucatan Peninsula area. Highs here at 7,000 feet right now are 27C (81F) and then down to 10C (50F) at night. In our opinion, this is perfect. And no bugs at all. Love it.
Enjoy your Sunday!
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Great deal on a Schumacher Battery charger with 100 amp boost...
And in Canada...
Mama and Papa bear are not leading the group, for a while! But what a gorgeous place to stay for a few days - as long as volcano activity is not too great!
ReplyDeleteYep, we have let the kids go out ahead of us and we are missing them already!
DeleteWe are enjoying our time here however and we aren't too worried about the volcano, it just like to remind people that it is still there. ;-)
Sherman is looking a wee bit lonely sitting there by his lonesome. Most any other time it would be ideal to have a place all to yourselves, just doesn't seem quite ideal however.
ReplyDeleteYou're right Bob, we would rather be with the group.
DeleteBeautiful pictures of the city and volcanos. The RV park looks clean and decent. I looked at satellite on google and it showed the laundromat, a grocery store, and auto stores nearby. Looks like a huge park near by too or at least an empty field. It's raining here in Phoenix...a welcome change. We've had no winter at all this year and no rain. I guess we won't be getting zillions of beautiful desert flowers this year...sigh.
ReplyDeleteYes, the campground is nice and clean our only problem is that we can't pick up WiFi from where we are so we have to use our cellular but other than that there are lots of things within walking distance.
DeleteWeather sounds just about perfect and I agree with Bob March...I know you'd all be happier with the group. Hang in there. You'll soon be back on the road. :)
ReplyDeleteThe weather here is perfect, we love it! You are right we would rather be with the group but we aren't so we will just make the best of the situation and if we have to be stuck somewhere this is definitely and nice place to be stuck. :-)
DeleteHope your reunited with the group very soon. In the mean time relax and enjoy your stay. Looks very decent there. Hope the volcano stays inactive for quite awhile.
ReplyDeleteThe soonest that we will be back with them would mostly likely be by the weekend. Our fingers are crossed that things will work out.
DeleteIt is a nice place to be "stuck"! :-)
That weather is perfect. I think I could be quite comfortable in the spot you are camped. Do you use a pump with your water jugs?
ReplyDeleteWe love this kind of weather. We really don't like the real hot weather by the beach.
DeleteNo, we have never bought a pump for our water jug. We usually just use a funnel and pour it into three smaller jugs which are more manageable to use on a daily basis.
Nice to have a vacation on the job. Those were awesome pictures of the sister volcanoes. Curious about the Cholula pyramid.
ReplyDeleteDoug, the pyramid just looks like a massive hill from the outside, but there are tunnels you can traverse from one side to the other for a small fee. Not for the claustrophobic, but fascinating nonetheless.
DeleteIt is sort of nice to have a little time on our own but personally we would rather be doing our job and be with the group.
DeleteThere will be a little more on the pyramid in today's post. We didn't go into the ruins themselves, we have sort of seen enough ruins for a while but as TakeToTheHighwaydotcom says, they would be interesting, even though the tunnels were ones made by the archaeologists as the explored what was under the pyramid.
Thank goodness this didn't happen at the beginning of the trip but now most of the people feel secure with the Green angels and feel comfortable on their own in Mexico so all is good. Enjoy your time there!
ReplyDeleteYou are so totally right, we had thought of that ourselves. At least all the organized tours are done and everyone feels more secure with their driving here. Michel and Louise have taken over as temporary leaders and have the Green Angels in front of them so it is all working out. Soon they will be at the beach and will have more time in one spot as well so that is where we should catch up to them.
DeleteBeautiful pics from the water tower. What do the stairs look like for the tower? How bad a climb?
ReplyDeleteThanks Cindy! To get to the start of the stairs you have to climb a metal ladder that isn't very secure, up one level after that it is all metal see-through steps. It isn't that bad of a climb.
DeleteWe do the same too with water jugs here at home. There are filter stations all over Mexico now and we pay as little as 10 pesos for a five gallon jug. There is a filter station just one block from the school so it is very convenient. The current price here in Monterrey for an exchange of water bottles is 38 pesos.
ReplyDeleteWe haven't seen a filling station near us and if there was it would still be quite a distance to carrying it, luckily the water truck drove by, it made everything all the more easy. :-)
DeleteLove seeing the awning out and the chairs lined up. Relax and enjoy.
ReplyDeleteThey were out yesterday as well but we were just to busy to have time to sit in them. ;-)
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